White House

The $2.2 trillion Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act), H.R. 748, was passed by the House by a voice vote and signed by President Trump on March 27. The House and Senate are both out until April 20, but work has already begun on drafting a fourth Coronavirus aid package. The package is likely to include funding for health systems, frontline healthcare workers, infrastructure, state and local governments and rebates to families and individuals.

President Trump directed HUD to suspend evictions and foreclosures for single-family homes with FHA-insured mortgages for the next 60 days. Similarly, the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) directed Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to suspend foreclosures and evictions for at least 60 days due for homeowners with an Enterprise-backed single-family mortgage.

HUD Secretary Dr. Ben Carson was added to the White House Coronavirus Task Force. While the risk of infections for Americans remains low, HUD is encouraging multifamily owners and agents, Public Housing Authorities, Performance Based Contract Administrators, FHA lenders to make the information below available to residents and employees.

On February 7, the White House Opportunity and Revitalization Council, chaired by HUD Secretary Ben Carson, released its one-year report on Opportunity Zones to President Trump. The report makes 43 legislative and regulatory recommendations relating to Opportunity Zones, including a call for the collection of data to assess the incentive’s value to distressed communities.

President Trump’s Administration released the Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 budget request, “A Budget for America’s Future.” HUD is allocated $47.9 billion in funding, a 15.2 percent decrease over FY 2020 enacted levels with notable zeroing out of the HOME program, Community Development Block Grants (CDBG), Public Housing Capital Fund, Choice Neighborhoods and HOPE VI.

During the 2020 State of the Union (SOTU) address to a joint session of Congress President Donald J. Trump said the following on Opportunity Zones, “Jobs and investments are pouring into 9,000 previously neglected neighborhoods thanks to Opportunity Zones, a plan spearheaded by Senator Tim Scott (R-SC) as part of our great Republican tax cuts.”

The White House Council on Eliminating Regulatory Barriers to Affordable Housing through HUD is seeking public comments on all aspects of developing a plan for reducing barriers to affordable housing development, and specifically on federal barriers to affordable housing development; state barriers to affordable housing development; local barriers to affordable housing development; basis for reducing […]

The Supreme Court agreed to review a challenge to the constitutionality of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau’s (CFPB) authority. Plaintiff, Sheila Law LLC, is arguing that a legal provision stipulating that the director can only be removed by the President for cause violates the constitutional separation of powers. The CFPB director, like the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) director, serves in a five-year role and cannot be fired at will. The Supreme Court’s decision will have implications for both the CFPB and FHFA.

President Trump officially nominated Brian Montgomery to be deputy secretary of HUD. Montgomery has served as acting deputy secretary since the former Deputy Secretary, Pamela Patenaude, left in January of this year. Montgomery has also been serving as assistant secretary for Housing and Commissioner of the Federal Housing Administration.

The House Financial Services Committee (HFSC) released its October hearing schedule. On October 22 at 10:00 am EDT the full Committee will convene for a hearing entitled, “The End of Affordable Housing? A Review of the Trump Administration’s Plans to Change Housing Finance in America.” On October 29 at 10:00 am EDT the Subcommittee on […]

Last week the Senate passed, and President Trump signed into law, a continuing resolution (CR) that funds the government through November 21, 2019, averting a government shutdown as Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 comes to a close. The Senate passed the measure (H.R. 4378) with a 81-16 vote.

Last week the House passed a continuing resolution (CR) that would fund the government through November 21, 2019, averting a government shutdown as Fiscal Year (FY) 2019 comes to a close. The measure (H.R. 4378) passed the House with a veto-proof majority vote of 301-123. The Senate is expected to pass the measure and the President is expected to sign the bill before the end of the fiscal year.